Long-time fans, tell me why I ought to be excited about Branch.

[shmessy]

Originally Posted by IcyPatriot
Aside from his money aspirations of the past ... he is a team player .
_____________________

Aside from his serial killings of the past, Ted Bundy was a good citizen...

As the great philosopher Emmitt Smith said, "A leopard doesn't change its stripes."

Sorry, but Branch just renegotiated down to a more Patriots-friendly contract yesterday. So that whole "leopards and stripes" thing is piffle.

 

[RayClay]

Was he really that much more "clutch," or was he just running into pitching matchups he liked at fortuitous times?

You'd be hard pressed to evaluate every possible matchup, especially those in the series from the other league, being likely the only times they have met, and come to the rational conclusion that he just coincidentally owned those particular pitchers.

That being said you might have to make some general assumptions. Was the quality of pitching in must win/playoff and World Series competition worse than average pitching matchups of lousy teams in games with less import? Just logically, it seems it would be much better.

In a World Series with a batter and pitcher who've never faced each other, who has the advantage? I believe most baseball people would say the pitcher by a large margin. It's the pitchers job to fool the batter with a variety of pitches, change of speeds, deceptive motion etc. Batters study pitchers every day.

 

[emoney_33]

You're too smart for this, so I know you're putting me on. It is virtually impossible, given all the statistics they keep in baseball, not to find one category that contradicts.

Nevertheless, We'd still be talking 95% of measurable statistics > regular season averages for the guy, which, statistically is way way above what would be considered statistically significant.

What you still can't understand is that taking a singe player's stastically significant event, finding ONE fact that correlates with it (time of year) and claiming it is proof that the fact (time of year) has an impact on player performance is simply wrong.

In fact, there probably is as great a chance a random typist copied one statistic wrong.

No there's a greater chance that out of the thousands of MLB players, Yaz didn't possess a special ability that he forgot to use in the 1975 WS.

People on sports web sites routinely take the 1 in 100 exception, as proof that the 99% factor is wrong.

Case in point, people will routinely argue that a 6th round pick is tremendously valuable because there is a great possibility you will pick a 3 ring wearing future hall of fame quarterback with it.

Do you think that's a statistically valid or likely possibility with any future sixth round pick?

It's exactly what YOU are doing. Picking one player (Yaz) out of thousands, taking a small sample size from this ONE player out of a thousand, finding one fact that correlates with it (time of year) and using that to attempt to prove that the time of year or meaning of the situation has an impact on performance.

What you are doing with Yaz is 100% equivalent to me searching for one MLB player to perform better in a small sample of wearing pink socks and claiming that pink socks have an effect on performance.

 

[emoney_33]

Manning is just not very good in the postseason, I can't believe your putting his postseason performances on par with tom brady.

This is all I need to know.... Was Michael Jordan a clutch performer Yes or No?

Manning's postseason numbers are NOT that much worse than his regular season numbers. Brady's postseason numbers are slightly worse than his own regular season numbers. Those are 2 facts, not opinions. If you want to ignore them or pretend they aren't true, that's your prerogative.

Jordan was great all the time. .497 in the regular season, .487 in the playoffs.

 

[emoney_33]

You are trying to do the equivalent of explaining planetary physics to an astrologer. Any data that does not support Jupiter being in the house of Mars is irrelevant or your (erroneous) opinion.

I don't know astrology so your seemingly sarcastic point is lost on me. My "opinion" is not irrelevant in the least. People just don't like to hear their longstanding belief that their favorite players would become BETTER when it mattered most is just simply not true.

 

[JSn]

This thread got exhausting in a big hurry.

 

[West Philly Patriot]

Manning's postseason numbers are NOT that much worse than his regular season numbers. Brady's postseason numbers are slightly worse than his own regular season numbers. Those are 2 facts, not opinions. If you want to ignore them or pretend they aren't true, that's your prerogative.

Jordan was great all the time. .497 in the regular season, .487 in the playoffs.

So your answer is No. Michael Jordan was not a clutch performer i just wanna see you write it.

 

[WhiteWesWelker88]

he's a locker room leader lmao.




so overplayed^


oh well a 4 for him is livable. We restructured his contract for next year and a lot of bonuses are attached. I doubt he makes it to next season because of all the young talent we have.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I don't know astrology so your seemingly sarcastic point is lost on me. My "opinion" is not irrelevant in the least. People just don't like to hear their longstanding belief that their favorite players would become BETTER when it mattered most is just simply not true.

what? so manning's 9-9 playoff record is the same as his great regular season record? what about manning's TD/int ratio in the playoffs - 28/19 - as compared to his regular season's? The fact is that manning is one of those guys that lights it up against bad teams but when the defenses he faces gets tough his performance DROPS. people keep saying that manning was never surrounded by super bowl talent, but you can't go from having great regular season teams to average post season teams for no reason. to me, that reason is the competition is much stiffer in the playoffs and that's where manning folds.

 

[emoney_33]

So your answer is No. Michael Jordan was not a clutch performer i just wanna see you write it.

I don't think clutch is a skill, i'm not going to say something just to make you feel like you've won something.

 

[WhiteWesWelker88]

did somebody bring up astrology on this thread? w t f??




I am a Scorpio. tell me a story astrologymeister.

 

[JSn]

did somebody bring up astrology on this thread? w t f??




I am a Scorpio. tell me a story astrologymeister.

Are you thinking of Astronomy?

 

[West Philly Patriot]

Making a 3 point shot in the 4th quarter when your up 15 in the regular season Is different from making a 3 point shot with 5 seconds to go and your down by 2 in the conference finals.

Any sports fan should understand this. Even if your shooting percentage is close to the same emoney have some context and appreciate the gravity of situation.

I agree with like 90% of your post especially regarding all the moss hate around these parts, but i can't ride with you on this one bro.

 

[West Philly Patriot]

I don't think clutch is a skill, i'm not going to say something just to make you feel like you've won something.

Nah that's not the reason you won't write it. You won't write it because it's blasphemy.

 

[WhiteWesWelker88]

You are trying to do the equivalent of explaining planetary physics to an astrologer. Any data that does not support Jupiter being in the house of Mars is irrelevant or your (erroneous) opinion.

I just saw this quote...... No I am not thinking about astrology. I do check it out a couple times a week though.

 

[WhiteWesWelker88]

Are you thinking of Astronomy?

I was not thinking of astronomy or astrology.....


I just saw 1 line and I was like w t f?

 

[Joker]

So, from your recent barrage of posts I can only conclude that you think regular season and playoff games are exactly alike. By that I mean you give ZERO credence to a longstanding NFL notion that the intensity level of playoff football is ramped up appreciably beyond that of a regular season game.

OK, so YOU are right and NFL coaches, players,network TV analysts and everyone else directly associated with the game are wrong. Players don't play with more urgency, hitting doesn't become more intense and the tempo and pressure are exactly the same as a regular season game.My point is, if you are wrong about that then there has to be a factor applied to post season statistics to take this into account,in which case your house of cards falls apart.

 

[shmessy]

This thread got exhausting in a big hurry.

Really??

I'm dying to read more of e money33's dissertation about Yastrzemski's on-base percentages on third Fridays of months beginning with the letter J.


More to the point about his position that "I don't think clutch is a skill, i'm not going to say something just to make you feel like you've won something." - - clutch is not a skill. It is partly biological and partly psychological. There have been numerous studies regarding heart rate and breathing patterns. Some folks have it, some folks don't.

 

[eagle eye]

I don't think clutch is a skill, i'm not going to say something just to make you feel like you've won something.

Clutch is just a state of mind and nothing else. Its about being able to perform to your level on the big occasion.

Sometimes people believe that players up their game in the big ones but thats not the case. Its that their opponents are affected by the pressure of the situation and don't play to their level which makes the clutch guy look like he is doing better than normal.

Like for instance a WR who is feeling the pressure of the occasion and misses two balls thrown his way and they both get caught by the same defender. The defender hasn't upped his game, he is just playing to his normal level but the WR has made him look better by not catching balls he should have and normally would have caught.

 

[emoney_33]

what? so manning's 9-9 playoff record is the same as his great regular season record?

As soon as Football becomes an individual sport, let me know. PS: The immortal Brady is 4-4 in his last 8 playoff games, did he suddenly lose his "clutch" ability?

what about manning's TD/int ratio in the playoffs - 28/19 - as compared to his regular season's?

2.7 INT % in both regular season and playoffs. His TD% is the big drop.

The fact is that manning is one of those guys that lights it up against bad teams but when the defenses he faces gets tough his performance DROPS. people keep saying that manning was never surrounded by super bowl talent, but you can't go from having great regular season teams to average post season teams for no reason. to me, that reason is the competition is much stiffer in the playoffs and that's where manning folds.

Yeah every QBs performance drops when going from playing against BAD teams to playing against TOP teams... this is not unique to Manning and it's a bold faced lie to say that Brady does equally as well against bad defenses as he does against good defenses.

The fact of the matter is that both quarterbacks have performed slightly worse in the playoffs than in the regular season. Does "clutch as a skill" exist and Brady just lost it after 2004 or does "clutch as a skill" simply not exist?

Again the facts:

Brady regular season
-----------------------
63.5 comp%, 5.4 TD%, 2.3 INT%, 7.3 Y/A

Brady postseason
-----------------------
62.0 comp%, 4.4 TD%, 2.3 INT%, 6.4 Y/A

Manning regular season
-----------------------
64.9 comp%, 5.6 TD%, 2.7 INT%, 7.7 Y/A

Manning postseason
-----------------------
62.9 comp%, 4.0 TD%, 2.7 INT%, 7.5 Y/A


Manning, despite your belief, does not in fact turn into a puddle of sucktitude in the playoffs.